Centum Lemmatis
by Ophelia Davis
Summary: 100 ways of exploration, 100 more solutions; 100 ways to see the Truth, 100 more conclusions - Each chapter is unrelated to the other, so pairings may vary; yaoi certainly included, you have been warned... Rated T for language.


He laid back further into a cushion, giving a low sigh as her weight settled onto him, leaning into his chest. A grin embraced his lips; he wrapped his arm around her, his hand settled on her stomach, her hand clasped in his, the other finding support from the sofa back. Their fingers laced together, the tips of his brushed along the coolness at the root source of her finger, grinned smoothly; his thumb made slow strokes along her warm, smooth skin, travelling to the bridge at her thumb, before skirting up the forefinger, and down again. She laid her head back into the crook of his neck and let out a breath she seemed to be holding; her blonde hair bristled smoothly along his skin, he pressed his nose into it, breathed in the deep scent, and closed his eyes to it.

His ears were left open, taking in the sounds around…peace and quiet. The only sounds that were allowed to exist were their soft breaths, the minute pulse that thumped gently against his fingers, into the palm of his right hand and the deep murmur of material friction as he dragged her further into the pit of his legs.

'Sorry,' she murmured softly, 'am I squishing you?'

'You wish,' he chuckled.

He brought his arms around her, pressed his lips to her temple, his eyes surrendered themselves to the serene darkness once again; a place where nothing, no one could reach in and disturb the quiet. After a time of running, bleeding, fighting for their lives…this was the only place he wanted to be; he could lay there, not have to worry, not have to constantly reach for something so ethereally out of reach…intangible, and yet, possible, existing.

His body seemed to grow heavy, slowly sinking further into the darkness, and yet…it didn't seem like a prison sentence, like a deathly cold hibernation. All around him, from the reaches of the shadows, was a still warmness that pressed itself around his skin. He pulled her closer to him as he sunk softly down, not falling to his death, but ready to be received into a safety net; one that didn't bite into his skin with rough, scratchy twine.

But, if life were to offer him a net with precautions attached, at least he would have her to ease his fall; his parachute, his comforter, someone who wouldn't let go as they made their way down.

Sharp clicks shook through the darkness, her form ruptured before him, lost the clarity he needed and the shadows claimed her away. His eyes shot open, he whizzed round to meet the source, and scowled as Den's claws clicked against the wooden panels, and deeper, metallic thuds settled on the flooring. She lolled her tongue, wagging her tail as she stepped towards them in a shaky flurry of dogged happiness. She pressed her wet nose into Winry's lap as she sat down, her ears, features relaxed into a watery gaze of askance.

'What is it Den?' Winry laughed, and her hand settled on Den's head, scratched behind her ear. Den's tail wagged excitedly, thumping against the floor with each beat. 'Do you want to come on here too?'

'Well, she can piss off; she can wait a while like everyone else.' He growled, knocking her muzzle away.

'Ed!' she elbowed him in the stomach, he grunted against it. 'You can be so mean sometimes! She can hop on right?'

'Geez, I've already got one bitch on my lap! It's not like I need ano-!' he was silenced quickly by a back fist to his face. As her wiped the blood from his chin, he felt sofa rise as she rose from his lap.

'Hey! What are you-?' he grabbed a hold of her wrist and tried to pull her back.

'If you're going to be like that, then there's no point in me sticking around!' she sunk to her knees, scowled at Den as she rubbed her head, 'come on Den, let's leave the meanie alone! We don't need him while he's in a temper now, do we?' Den pushed her muzzle into her cheek, and licked it happily, 'I thought so.'

'I'm sorry, ok? I was kidding!' He laughed hopefully, pushing himself off the sofa as she made to retreat from the living room.

'Funny way of showing it!' she glared back at him, that sapphire glare; he gulped, as if a warning flag were flying, telling him directly, "one more wrong move, and they'll be _real _trouble!" If only that gaze were there all those years before…. Her gaze had disappeared, and he was brought back to alarm at the sight of her back, receding from him.

He caught her by the shoulder in mid-motion, and she snapped back round to him, but he couldn't let himself be deterred. He took in deep breaths, readying himself, 'look, I'm sorry, ok? I just- I shouldn't have said that. It was stupid and…disrespectful.'

Her glare softened a little, 'alright, but apologize to Den too.' She pointed down to Den, who looked up at them from her claimed seat on the sofa, her head tilted.

'What? Why? She's just a dog! It's not like she can understand me anyway!' he fumed.

'That still wasn't very nice! And it was definitely uncalled for! Now apologize!'

His shoulders sagged, and he let out a resigned sigh, 'alright, fine! But only because _you _say so. Otherwise I would-!'

'You're lucky you're getting off lightly! Just do it before I change my mind!' her glare came back with a vengeance, her arms akimbo in a severe look and pose he knew he would have to live with for the rest of his days, but…he wouldn't want to be without it; if he wished otherwise, then he might as well be without her completely.

With an edge of reluctance, he turned round face Den, 'I'm sorry.' He frowned.

'Like you mean it!' she admonished.

'What? But I just-!'

'Now!'

'Oh for fu-!' he gulped down his words before they could surface, and forced a smile on his face, 'Hey, Den, I'm sorry I called you a-, well, you know what I called you.' He lowered his hand to stroke her head, 'we cool?' she snapped her jaws at him suddenly. She darted off the sofa, growled at him warily, her hackles rose. 'Hey! I wasn't that bad, was I?'

'Well it serves you right!' Winry growled.

'But I apologized like you asked!' He turned back to Den, cursed under his breath; she slapped him upside the head. 'Geez! Stop being so violent!'

'Wash out your potty mouth first and I'll think about it!'

'Look! I'll apologize again! Will that make you happy?'

She gave a low sigh, 'fine, but don't blame _me_ if she doesn't accept it!'

'Talking about dogs like they're people,' he mumbled, but lowered himself to his knees, bending to meet Den eye-to-eye. 'I'm sorry I insulted you, ok?' he gave an almost genuine smile, and stroked her head softly.

She turned her head towards the door, growling loudly before fleeing away from beneath his touch, barking loudly.

'Stupid mutt,' he muttered. 'What's gotten into her?'

'It'll be someone at the door; I'll go and see who it is.' She made to leave, smiling this time; before Edward rushed off in front of.

'No, I'll go and see who's here, you just sit back down; won't be a sec.' He scowled, and left the room in quick steps to find Den by the door, growling and barking at something resting on the floor. As he bent down to pick it up, he found an envelope, and he pushed Den's muzzle from it. 'Move, stupid mutt; you've had your apology.' He huffed, and he straightened himself up, frowning as Den retreated from his own glare, her head low and seeking.

His gaze returned to the envelope and to the curled lettering on the front: _For Mr and Mrs Elric ~X~. _But their address was absent beneath.

'That's weird,' he muttered, and turning it over, found no return address either. He tore the envelope open, and dropped it to the floor after retrieving its contents. Unfolding the thin paper, his gaze settled onto thick black ink.

Footsteps neared him, signalling another presence with the clack of shoes and the creak of panels, 'Well, who's here?' she asked as she settled beside him.

'No one,' Edward murmured, 'someone just posted this.'

'Who sent it?' she asked curiously, and she pressed herself close to him, trying to read it.

'I'm not sure.'

'Well, bring it lower will you? I want to read it too.'

Their gazes followed the lines.

_Dear Mr and Mrs Edward Elric, _

_ If you are reading this, then it is with great honour that I express how pleased I am to speak with you! I have heard of your endeavours, of your struggles, both physically and internally, and I want to say what a pleasure it has been to hear of your adventures these past 5 years. Your efforts have touched me deeply. The peace that you have been rewarded with has been well-deserved, and as such it is one you both too-well deserve to languish in for the rest of your days._

_ But, here is where I make my offer. Although I can understand your need to grow accustomed to domestic living, surely it is only right that you should sample once more your lives of excitement! Now, before you inwardly protest, I want to quickly cut in that what I'm offering you is by no means a repeat of your past, but a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sample it in a different light; a chance to see first-hand what you could be missing out on._

_ I'm not at all saying that either of you are unhappy with what you have now; I should think you are both very grateful, but I'm sure it is not too much of an assumption to think that there are still some what-ifs that have laid untouched at the back of your minds; quiet little curiosities that you have been too…afraid to query in your inner most thoughts? _

_ To be more specific, I am offering you both the chance to challenge those questions, to reawaken those little curiosities, and to live them out (for a time) before settling back down into life as you know it now. You could be conversing with the lost civilisation of Xerxes, living a life that has never known loss, or even seeing what life would be like with a different partner all together; whatever you wish! This second-chance of life can be whatever you make of it!_

_ Of course, the decision is completely up to you, as long as the choice you make is not one that will bring regret later; it is a choice that needs to be made with some thought, but it must be made today, or you'll never get another chance like this!_

_ Now, if you choose to answer this call, then all you need to do is turn the letter over and follow the instructions accordingly. If not, then please feel free to tear up this letter, through the envelope into the fire and burn the remains._

_ But please consider this; this is not a permanent change, no, instead, think of it as…a vacation from yourselves. You can walk away from it at any time; for a chance of rediscovering yourselves, surely this is a fair exchange, right? _

_ I sincerely hope you make the right choice, yours sincerely, _

_ Your Saviour ~x~_

Edward stared at the paper, his gaze seemed unwavering, but as his gaze reached the bottom of the page, his features hardened, and his grip tightened on the page and shook. His mouth gaped then, almost in disgust.

'…who does this guy think he is?' he spat, and he crumpled the letter up in his fists and threw it to the floor to skitter along the panels, before joining its travelling companion by the door.

'Ed! There was no need for that!' she frowned and gathered up the crumpled lump, peeling it out of manipulated form to become a wrinkled sheet of paper in her hands.

'You read what was in that!' he yelled furiously, folding his arms, 'that bastard! "Surely it is right that you sample once more your lives of excitement!" If he _really _knew what we'd been through, he wouldn't ask!' he bared his teeth, his hands tightened into fists.

'Ed, just calm down!' she cried, grasping his shoulder, 'he's not offering a _repeat _of it all!'

He shoved her aside, screamed, it tore from his throat and he punched the wall before him. Blood leaked from his knuckle, his eyes clenched shut, he drew in a harsh hiss; he'd forgotten that pain would replace superior destruction. He wanted the darkness to fill him up again, like before, but all that reigned there was the stinging pain in his fist, and the hot wetness of blood as it dripped from his fingers. He opened his eyes slowly then, the peace had definitely been ruptured. The blood dripped smoothly down the wall, around each minute lump and into each little crack. It flowed slowly to a skirting board, undulating over the wood before skittering to the floor.

A soft cry interrupted his attention, his gaze trailed to the side of him…his eyes grew wide, she lay there, holding herself up on her hand, and the other clutched her stomach, her face drawn in with pain.

He dislodged his fist from the wall quickly, 'Winry!' He met her on his knees, but she held her hand up, dismissing his actions.

'No, i-it's alright…I'm alright…'

'No it's not- I'm sorry!' he drew an arm round her, brought her close, rocked her slowly. She lay there for a while, her head pressed into his chest, her arm clutched around his waist. The air stilled around them, not even the clicks of Den's claws came to check up on them; the letter lay beside them, released from her grasp as she fell. His gaze fell onto it, narrowed in disgust, the nerve of the sender, how dare that-!

'…Edward?' a soft voice spoke from his chest, he drew her head away, faced her. She glanced from his eyes, but finally, they veered to his, 'maybe…we should seriously consider this.'

His brows arched, his head tilted from hers, 'what are talking about? Are you thinking about this?'

'I think _we _should. I mean…' she glanced down from him, towards the floor, 'recently, we haven't been the very…_amicable _to say the least.'

He gaze dropped from hers, 'well, I admit we have our problems but…we're _fine! _There's nothing wrong with us!' he protested.

'I know but, maybe, this will be _good _for us.'

'Don't say that,' he forced a smile onto his lips, 'we're good now!'

Her hand curled into a fist, shook, 'No, Edward, we're not.' She breathed, 'sometimes, I feel like…you don't treat me with respect. Sometimes, I feel like you take me for granted. I know you're _better_ than this, Ed!' She stared up at him, heaving short breaths.

He stared into her gaze, deep into those sapphire jewels, searching for sense of fondness, the affection he'd saw in them a while ago; he was turning up dirt.

'What has gotten into you, Ed?' She asked her voice soft.

He gave a low sigh, 'I don't know, I guess I got…comfortable….' He smirked a little beneath his knitted brows.

'Are you not happy here…? Is that it?'

'No, I am happy! I can't imagine being anywhere else!' He countered quickly, but the protestation slipped from his features, eased away, 'but…'

'…Ed?'

He forced up a brighter smile, 'no, it's nothing.'

'Ed?' he reached out to cup his cheek, his smile fell sadly, 'you know you can tell me anything, right?'

He clasped it then, 'yeah,' he nodded slowly, 'I know.'

'Then what's wrong?' she smiled a little, stroked his cheek, coaxing, 'hm?'

He glanced down at her hand, clasped it tighter, '…I've always wondered, what things would be like if they were a little different. I'm not sure…_how _different, but…different.' He smirked a little, 'but that's just me I guess, don't know when I've got it good, do I?'

Her smile brightened, and without leaving his gaze, she reached out and slid the letter back towards her, 'There's nothing wrong with wondering,' and she brought it up to him, 'that's why, I think we should take a chance on this. It's not permanent after all; we can walk away from this at any_ time_.' She pressed the letter into his chest. He took it from her and she watched hopefully as his eyes drew across each line once again.

He released a heavy breath, his eyes flickered back to hers, 'is this honestly what you want?' she nodded, but he added quickly, 'because if you don't, then I completely understand! And we'll work on this together! We'll make this better!'

'Are you sure _you _want this?' she smiled, chuckling a little amidst his flailing.

'Well, if _you_ think this'll help us, then you I'll do this with you. You know better than I do about this sort of thing.'

She wrapped her arms around him, and drew him close, 'I know this will make us stronger.' She smiled into his chest, 'I just know it.'

He grasped her shoulders then, let his gaze fall into hers, 'then,' his cheeks reddened softly, and he tilted his head into hers. Their lips met, mending the synapse, and they held there before he drew them back, 'I'm willing to do this.'

'Together,' she smiled brightly. He grasped her hand, and they pulled each other up onto their feet, they smiled then.

She flinched inwards, grasping her stomach, her eyes clenched.

'Are you sure you're alright?' He asked, catching her waist.

'I'm fine.' She laughed, smiling.

'If you're sure…'

'What does it say on the back?' she pointed to the paper still grasped in his hand, his eyes skimmed along it again.

'"…If you choose to answer this call, then all you need to do is turn the letter over and follow the instructions accordingly…."' He turned the page over quickly, straightened out the wrinkles, and lowered it enough for Winry to follow.

_If you are reading this, then you have decided to answer the call, thank you for giving this offer your most esteemed consideration. Now, without further ado, the instructions are as follows:_

_In the envelope, you will find two pills; you should take one each and swallow it down with water. _

_Then, all that's left is for you to walk out of the door. Everything else will follow quickly soon after._

'Pills…?' Edward growled lowly.

'We'll be fine.' Winry smiled, and departing from his side, she picked up the envelope that had been left on the floor. Tipping the envelope, the two pills fell into her hand, small and white. Taking Edward's hand, placed one into his palm, 'are you ready for this?' she smiled.

He stared at the pill in his hand, small, almost useless by estimation, but he knew better than to judge something by stature, lest he learn to tread in hypocrisy.

'Yeah,' he nodded firmly.

'I'll get us some water then,' and she rushed quickly into the kitchen. His gaze moved back to the pill, but his gaze shrank from it just as easily.

_Am I really sure about this? I can always turn back now…_

The sounds of her footsteps brought him quickly away from his thoughts as she handed him a cup of water.

'On the count of three…' she nodded.

'One…' he gulped.

'Two…' she smiled into him, lent support.

'Three.'

Both pressed the pills to their mouths, letting them fall to their throats. He took a sip from the cup, gulped, before passing it to her. He hardly noticed it go down, it was so small he could've swallowed it easily, water or not.

The cup fell to the floor, her grip had loosened from around the handle; she hardly seemed to notice, holding her hand out for him.

'You coming?' She grinned, and with a firm nod in return, she led him to the door. His head started to swoon, his vision blurred at the edges. She took his coat from the hook, and pushed it into his arms. Letting go, he staggered into the wall, but chuckled as his shoulder hit the wall. He straightened himself then, and pushed his arms into the sleeves, pulled at the brown coat until all was comfortable.

She pulled on her white jacket with ease, holding her hand out for him once again.

He missed it, but took her by the waist instead, pulling her close.

He took hold of the door knob, twisted it, and pulled it open.

A great pool of bright white light was splayed out before them, as everything around them had shrunken from existence into a void; the universe's blank canvas, the one that some creator must have puzzled over for centuries before letting one single brush or mark grace its seemingly spotless, bumpy surface.

His grasp on her waist tightened, but she tightened him tighter in return; not fear, her action told of reassurance.

They stepped out of the door, and everything else shrank from their vision; left their memories, the crossing far forgotten. But at least, together, they would hopefully remember.

Author's note: This may have seemed a little confusing but, despite the underlying plotline, this is a series of one shot as I've said before. So, each chapter is actually unrelated to the last, just so that you're not too confused when something completely different starts happening. You may also notice that the pairings may be completely different to the last chapter as well, and since I'm open to a great many pairings (including yaoi) then you are all very welcome to request any that you want to see in here, and I'll see what I can do, and if I can make them comply to each theme.

That's another thought, each Chapter title is in Latin, but it basically means what the theme of that certain chapter is about. You can also feel free to guess what each theme is about in your reviews, just to make it even more fun! I have used the internet for my translations, but if you see a mistake, or you think I've done something wrong, then please let me know and I can change it!

Now, one final thing I should let you know about here, each chapter needs at least one review before I can update the next chapter, even if the updates may be few and far between. The reason I started this up though was so that I could do something while taking a break from the Fullmetal Alchemist and Matrix crossover, The Clier Path (of which chapters there are now 20!) I made this decision while my excitement for it was waning, and while I wanted to do something more mainstream (non-crossover), so this should also give me a chance to experiment on things I haven't before, like writing styles, pairings, situations, whatever! What's also good is you can have some say.

Though I will have coursework to do, this fiction is great because each chapter does not have a deadline, so I'm not sacrificing my studies either.

Sorry for the rambling, and thanks for reading so far.

Please enjoy and please review! Xxx

Ophelia Davis


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